Saturday, December 31, 2011

Reflection of 2011: how my food blog reflected parts of my year

January- After finishing my extended thesis in late 2010, I organised the trip of my lifetime where I travelled to the USA/Europe/Hong Kong. It was the perfect reward after a tough Honours year and I enjoyed every second of it. See my post about aeroplane food. In this month, I relocated to Canberra for a work grad program.

February/March/April/May- I began my first full-time job. Being new to Canberra, I socialised rampantly, ate and drunk maybe a bit excessively. The grad program's 'honeymoon period' eventually wore off and people stopped going out as much. Work became the centre of my life and I didn't have any outlet for creativity or self-expression... so I started up this blog!!! See my first post.

Juneish/July- My flatmate and I hosted a massive afternoon tea for our Canberra friends. She went overseas and left the apartment all to myself. I contemplated throwing wild tequila parties where I'd encourage my guests to lick the salt crystal lamp in the apartment, invite homeless people over where we'd strip and dance.

I kept myself occupied by visiting Sydney a lot. There I enjoyed home food and hung out with friends. A few of my Sydney friends visited me in Canberra, including Milly and Jacqui. This definitely cheered me up from the Canberra cold.

August- During the few months up to August 2011, I was appealing the mark that I received for Honours. Theses normally take 9 months, but I my whole journey with my thesis and the body of research spanned over 2 years. I tackled barrier after barrier in university and government politics, structures and bureaucracy. The appeal was the icing on the cake as it was rejected by the university. I was so tired of fighting for what I believed in. I felt that no matter how much blood, sweat and tears I put into something, there are sometimes structural forces that work against me. In August, work in Canberra was also very stressful and I had a few personal things going on.

Nevertheless, writing for this food blog was the easiest thing in my life. I would: take photos, write, my post would get published and friends/family read my blog.

I needed to get back on my feet and to combat the biting Canberra cold. I made warm food such as daal kofta curry. Luckily, there were things to keep me busy in Sydney. I visited the city to show around a friend from America and for my graduation.

October/November- I disappeared from this blog as I immersed myself in work travels, social events and volunteering to organise a wine tour. November was the anniversary of when my long-time best friend passed away. I took it more harshly in 2011 than normal, because I missed sharing things with my friends, being able to love them, chilling and being myself. I tried to make a life for myself in Canberra and the pictures show this.

December- Everything work-wise quietened down but my social life went nuts. I realised that where ever I live or travel to, to some extent, I somehow recreated similar lifestyles in each location. I spent time with my closest friends and ate out at every chance to laugh about this. All the opportunities to take food photos made become a bit addicted to this blog. It was the festive season after all!